The Hidden World of Psychic Scams, Part 2

The Perfect Scam

AARP

True Crime, Society & Culture

4.5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2019

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After losing her job and boyfriend in the same day, a distraught Debra pays a visit to a psychic shop. Little does Debra know that the shop is part of a larger criminal organization and Sylvia, the psychic who gives her a reading, is a scammer. After a series of readings of increasing cost, Sylvia tells Debra that all of her troubles stem from her trust issues surrounding money. To solve these problems Sylvia prompts Debra to hand over a $28,000 check — to prove that she trusts others with her money. Sylvia promises to hold on to the check and return it the next day. However, Sylvia immediately cashes the check and cuts off all communication with Debra.

Debra tries a number of ways to get her money back — including contacting the police — to no avail. Eventually Debra is referred to Bob Nygard, a private investigator and retired police officer who specializes in helping victims of psychic scams. Debra tells Bob about her case, and he agrees to take it on. Bob works to chase down the facts, trying to get Debra justice. He finds that Sylvia has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims. It takes five years, but Bob finally gathers enough evidence to take down Sylvia.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Coming up on AARP The Perfect Scam.
0:03.5	I mean these people really prey upon vulnerable people who are going through a difficult time in their life.
0:11.0	Welcome back to AARP The Perfect Scam. I'm your host Will Johnson and I'm here with
0:14.7	AARP's Fraudwatch network ambassador Frank Abagnale and Frank we are back
0:19.0	this week with part two of our story about a psychic scam and a woman who is the victim of a
0:23.3	psychic scam she's told that she needs to give her a check for thousands of
0:27.2	dollars and just let go with that money for an overnight and that her issues have to
0:31.8	do with holding on the money and so on and so forth.
0:34.8	What's interesting about all this and as we get into part two, we'll find out exactly what
0:38.1	happens, but that people can become convinced of something that they'd never even thought about.
0:44.4	It's part of human nature almost that you could be told something and all of a sudden it seems like,
0:48.0	oh, that might be the answer.
0:49.4	Maybe this is what I need to do.
0:51.0	Oh, sure.
0:52.0	Especially if you're looking for that type of guidance or you're looking for
0:54.7	that type of answer and you start to believe in the person that you're talking to.
1:00.1	People convince people every day to do things that they probably normally wouldn't do, but people have
1:05.1	the power over a lot of people because they're very influential or they have they're able
1:10.5	to gain their confidence and as you know we always say the whole concept of
1:15.1	con man or con woman is confidence and that they're able to get your confidence for you
1:19.4	to trust them and then the things they say you believe and soon you part with your money.
1:25.0	It's common enough, this psychic scam is common enough and it's still amazing to think about the fact that
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